Jeff Jordan

General Partner, Andreessen Horowitz · 16 appearances on the record.

computed by AI from the episodes · how this works → · full disclaimer →

investorexecutiveoperator@jeff_jordan ↗a16z.com/author/jeff-jordan ↗Wikipedia ↗

At Andreessen Horowitz, Jordan led landmark early investments in top consumer and marketplace companies, including Airbnb, Pinterest, and Instacart. Earlier in his career, he served as CEO of OpenTable, President of PayPal, and Senior VP and General Manager of eBay North America.

169statements → 96claims → 42claims resolved → 50%fully supported → 3.99/5average certainty → 1.91/5average debate potential → 4.1/5argument clarity · the sources → 7said about them ↓

21 supported 12 partly supported 9 contradicted 5 not yet assessed 35 not checkable as stated how the 96 claims stand · each chip opens the sources

4 predictions · 92 assertions · 13 opinions · 46 insights · 14 disclosures · every statement was checked. The predictions and assertions are the 96 claims: statements the public record can support or contradict. 56 are resolved, 5 are not yet assessed, and 35 name no date, number or outcome precise enough to check. Everything else (opinions, insights, what ifs, disclosures) can never be settled by the record, so it carries no assessment.

The record, in short

What the tape says about how Jeff argues and how the claims held up. Everything they said, and everything said about them, is in the tabs below.

Their most notable supported claim

Assertion Supported
Jordan: Premier networks like Facebook and WhatsApp skip paid user acquisition
“A lot of the best networks that are platformed here aren't spending anything on, on acquisition. I mean, it's just, it's kind of an interesting thing in marketplace. Facebook, no. WhatsApp, no. Medium, no. You know, just OpenTable, no. Just, you know, just, th…”
Jeff Jordan Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 31:13 a16z Podcast | Getting Network Effects

Their most notable contradicted claim

Assertion Contradicted
Jordan: Zuckerberg pre-populated Facebook by hacking Harvard house directories
“He hacked the directories in each of the houses, and so he pre-populated everyone on the Harvard campus into Facebook and then let people claim their identities, but you could then friend, it was populated when the first person showed up.”
Jeff Jordan Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 7:50 a16z Podcast | Getting Network Effects

Expressed certainty vs assessment result

none yet certainty 1
none yet certainty 2
50% certainty 3
66% certainty 4
79% certainty 5

weighted support: a fully supported claim counts one, a partly supported claim counts half. Each filled bar is clickable and opens exactly those claims; "none yet" means nothing said at that certainty level has resolved yet

Argument clarity: do they answer the question? how? →

4.1 / 5 directness 3.9 · coherence 4.3 · precision 4.2 · compression 3.6

redirected or did not address 2 of 9 assessed questions (22%). Watch them ▸

This is a score against a rubric. It is not a rank. Every host question → answer exchange is scored with names hidden on directness, coherence, precision and compression, 1–5 each, on meaning alone: disfluencies are ignored, and only raw unedited episodes count. This is the score that measures thought. Every scored exchange, scores shown → · The rubric and its checks →

How they sound: speaking style how? →

246 words/min while actually speaking · 24.5 um and uh per 1k words · 12.8 false starts per 1k · 35.3% of pauses land inside a clause

Um and uh per 1,000 words, year by year. Hover a point for the year's tape.

1020302016201720192016 · 18.2 per 1k · 3 episodes2017 · 21.2 per 1k · 4 episodes2019 · 32.4 per 1k · 4 episodes

Measured by listening to the audio itself: 29,997 words across 12 episodes of raw-level tape, transcribed verbatim with every um and uh kept, each one attributed only where the alignment onto our timed stream is unambiguous. These are measurements of speaking style. We do not rank them: across this corpus, fluency and argument quality are nearly uncorrelated (ρ≈0.2), and smooth talking does not signal clear thinking. How it's measured →

Everything Jeff Jordan said on the a16z Podcast that made the record, most notable first. Filter by type, assessment or year in the ledger →

Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jordan: Fewer than five U.S. e-commerce companies hit $1B and stay profitable
“So, you know, one of the big secrets in e-commerce is virtually no companies get big and make money in the United States on e-commerce. I can name five e-commerce companies in the U.S. After two decades of investing and God knows how many tens of billions of d…”
Jeff Jordan Feb 26, 2019 ▶ 3:39 a16z Podcast | Who's Down with CPG, DTC? (And Micro-Brands Too?)
Opinion
Jordan: Merrill Lynch was not a top-tier tech bank in 2009
“All due respect to Merrill at the time, they were, you know, they were not the top of the pyramid in terms of tech bankers, so we, because we were the only IPO, we had every bank wanted to do it.”
Jeff Jordan Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 5:23 a16z Podcast | The Curious Case of the OpenTable IPO
Opinion
Jordan: The best outcome for USPS is privatization by Amazon or UPS
“USPS is, you know, been having, you know, been running a massive loss for many, many, many years. I mean, for me, the best outcome is either one of two people buys it and basically privatizes it, UPS or Amazon.”
Jeff Jordan Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 16:09 a16z Podcast | Ecommerce and the Holiday Shopping Collision
Opinion
Google Drains Retail Profit Margins Through Dual-Funnel Advertising Spend
“A lot of people think Google massively overcharges. They're taking all the margin out of the product because of this. The marketers, brands are spending at the top. Retailers are spending at the bottom. Margins is disappearing into the coffers of these compani…”
Jeff Jordan Jul 16, 2017 ▶ 16:03 How 'Going Direct' Changes Everything: for Brands, Retail, Marketing, and Advertising
Opinion
Craigslist founders operate like communists rather than maximizing business value
“They're somewhere between social activists and communists and they have not run their business in a value-maximizing way.”
Jeff Jordan Jul 15, 2017 ▶ 13:39 Marketplaces
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jordan: Growth-challenged DTC brands are turning to offline retail
“All the companies that are getting challenged, growing, continuing to grow DTC sales are turning to offline retail in different forms. Every company I've worked with is trying to do that because incremental sales.”
Jeff Jordan Feb 26, 2019 ▶ 9:15 a16z Podcast | Who's Down with CPG, DTC? (And Micro-Brands Too?)
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jordan: Sports team valuations rely entirely on vulnerable media broadcast dollars
“What's driven the constantly escalating value of the sports teams is almost exclusively these media dollars that have flown in. But media dollars typically follow eyeballs, and if eyeballs are declining rapidly, the media dollars disappear.”
Jeff Jordan Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 1:19 a16z Podcast | Eyeballs on the Game
Opinion
Jeff Jordan: Blended CAC is a dangerous metric for startups
“I view blended CAC as a really dangerous number.”
Jeff Jordan Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 6:32 a16z Podcast | The Basics of Growth 1 -- User Acquisition
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jeff Jordan: Top internet companies didn't rely on paid acquisition
“Most of the best businesses in the internet age of technology haven't spent a ton on paid acquisition.”
Jeff Jordan Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 6:35 a16z Podcast | The Basics of Growth 1 -- User Acquisition
Insight
Jordan: Companies shouldn't IPO without four quarters of performance secured
“If you don't, for my perspective, you don't have the next four quarters in the bag, you know, Don't even think about it because it's so interesting. The long-term performance of the company in terms of value is so predicted by the first quarter performance.”
Jeff Jordan Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 8:44 a16z Podcast | Market Shifts
Insight
Jordan: Elite companies can execute an IPO in any market environment
“The best companies often open windows that were then previously closed. So the best companies can go out whenever they want. The good companies typically want to wait for, till the investors are feeling good. The mediocre and bad companies want to get out When…”
Jeff Jordan Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 4:33 a16z Podcast | The Curious Case of the OpenTable IPO
Insight
Jordan: CEOs should prioritize long-term IPO investors over maximizing price
“And I would do that again in a second. I'd advise management teams to do it like crazy because as a CEO managing a public company, you don't want people who are in and out on momentum, hot money, because you spend then all your time literally marketing to new …”
Jeff Jordan Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 14:11 a16z Podcast | The Curious Case of the OpenTable IPO
Insight
Jordan: Replace any CFO who cannot tell the company story
“But if your CFO can't tell the story, you need a new CFO.”
Jeff Jordan Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 18:50 a16z Podcast | The Curious Case of the OpenTable IPO
Assertion Supported
Jordan: Premier networks like Facebook and WhatsApp skip paid user acquisition
“A lot of the best networks that are platformed here aren't spending anything on, on acquisition. I mean, it's just, it's kind of an interesting thing in marketplace. Facebook, no. WhatsApp, no. Medium, no. You know, just OpenTable, no. Just, you know, just, th…”
Jeff Jordan Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 31:13 a16z Podcast | Getting Network Effects
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jordan: Portfolio companies cut spending without slowing top-line growth
“We've had a couple companies that Shifted in the current capital environments and the uncertainty there shifted from growth at all costs to, you know, kind of smart growth mode or whatever you want to call it. The amazing thing, the profitability improved dram…”
Jeff Jordan Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 34:13 a16z Podcast | Getting Network Effects
Insight
Jordan: Marketplace startups must demonstrate early monetization to prove value
“I think in a marketplace business, if there's money flowing through it, You should be able to demonstrate you can capture some of it early on, or, I mean, if not, I'm trying to figure out if you're actually adding value to both sides of the marketplace and the…”
Jeff Jordan Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 34:41 a16z Podcast | Getting Network Effects
Assertion Not checkable as stated
Jordan: OpenTable achieved network effects only because its direct competitors folded
“Open table got raised enough money and spent it so slowly they were able to survive. The two direct competitors didn't open table ran unopposed for five years, which is the only reason they were able to get to their network effect.”
Jeff Jordan Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 36:13 a16z Podcast | Getting Network Effects
Insight
Jordan: Branded marketplaces are valued higher than white-label software
“So, and then branded marketplaces, we would value much more highly than white label, because white label becomes, you're selling a utility, you're selling software, and the marketplace standpoint, you're selling customers.”
Jeff Jordan Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 40:48 a16z Podcast | Getting Network Effects
Insight
Jordan: Unsolicited direct startup pitches are usually poor investments
“Be really careful, because when they, when the one deal comes to you, it's usually the shitty deal that couldn't get money elsewhere.”
Jeff Jordan Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 12:53 a16z Podcast | Hall of Fame Football Meets Venture Capital
Insight
Jeff Jordan: Buyers, not sellers, drive all value in multi-sided marketplaces
“In every marketplace I've managed, the seller paid the company, but the buyer, I believe, is where all the value is. Sellers, businesses, small businesses, aspiring small businesses, will typically go wherever they think consumers are in quantity.”
Jeff Jordan Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 8:16 a16z Podcast | The Marketplace Rules
Assertion Partly supported
Jeff Jordan: Eastern European organized crime drove early eBay and PayPal fraud
“Most of the fraud on eBay and PayPal was organized crime, typically out of Eastern Europe. Where they had incredibly talented computer science professionals who lacked a lot of commercial opportunity.”
Jeff Jordan Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 20:04 a16z Podcast | The Marketplace Rules
Prediction Held up
Jordan: Amazon will handle low-cost shipments, leaving high-cost deliveries to UPS
“I've got a thesis that they will soon be, I think they are already entering the shipping market cherry picking the best the, low, the lowest cost shipments they are starting to do themselves. Increasingly and just leave UPS with the higher cost shipments, whic…”
Jeff Jordan Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 14:11 a16z Podcast | Ecommerce and the Holiday Shopping Collision
Insight
Vertical marketplaces outperform horizontal ones by optimizing for specific use cases
“Early in people marketplaces, you had the horizontals of TaskRabbit or Zarli, where you could ask people to do anything, and the paradox of choice and the lack of optimization against specific verticals, no one knew what to do with it, so they really didn't do…”
Jeff Jordan Jan 2, 2019 ▶ 11:45 a16z Podcast | People Marketplaces Take On One of the Last Great E-Commerce Opportunities: Groceries
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Massive Reach Will Not Sustain Broadcast TV Against Facebook and Snapchat
“Facebook and Snapchat increasingly are aggregating similar size audiences. So the concept of reach isn't going to be a sustainable differentiator over time.”
Jeff Jordan Jul 16, 2017 ▶ 11:18 How 'Going Direct' Changes Everything: for Brands, Retail, Marketing, and Advertising

Show 24statements(145 left)

The other half of the tape: Jeff Jordan's own voice is left out of every number here. Other people bring the name up 7 times in 6 episodes on the a16z Podcast. every mention, with the transcript →

Who brings them up most Connie Chan 3Michael Copeland 1Joe Gebbia 1Andrew Chen 1

Every mention by year

tap a year for its mentions
00224420192020202120222023episodesmentions
02420192020202120222023episodes it came up in
000.821.5420192020202120222023episodesmentions per episode
2023 3 mentions in 2 episodes 2 per episode
2019 4 mentions in 4 episodes 1 per episode

Appearances (16)

EpisodeDateSpeaking time
a16z Podcast | Who's Down with CPG, DTC? (And Micro-Brands Too?) Feb 26, 2019 11m
a16z Podcast | Eyeballs on the Game Jan 2, 2019 4m
a16z Podcast | The Case Study of Dollar General and Surviving (Thriving!) Retail Jan 2, 2019 4m
a16z Podcast | The Basics of Growth 2 -- Engagement & Retention Jan 2, 2019 10m
a16z Podcast | The Basics of Growth 1 -- User Acquisition Jan 2, 2019 8m
a16z Podcast | Market Shifts Jan 2, 2019 6m
a16z Podcast | The Curious Case of the OpenTable IPO Jan 2, 2019 14m
a16z Podcast | From Hidden Figure to Sonic BOOM Jan 2, 2019 4m
a16z Podcast | Welcome to the New Era of Commerce Jan 2, 2019 4m
a16z Podcast | Getting Network Effects Jan 2, 2019 21m
a16z Podcast | Hall of Fame Football Meets Venture Capital Jan 2, 2019 9m
a16z Podcast | Andre Iguodala Knows Tech -- And Why the Warriors Won't Be Stopped Jan 2, 2019 4m
a16z Podcast | The Marketplace Rules Jan 2, 2019 15m
a16z Podcast | Ecommerce and the Holiday Shopping Collision Jan 2, 2019 16m
a16z Podcast | Where's My Stuff? -- The Lowdown on Logistics and Ops Jan 2, 2019 5m
a16z Podcast | People Marketplaces Take On One of the Last Great E-Commerce Opportunities: Jan 2, 2019 7m

Played on the show (2)

Episodes where a recording of Jeff Jordan was played rather than Jeff taking part, or where the tape carries an address with nobody putting questions to them. Listed because the words are on the record, kept out of every score on this page because they were not said on this show. We read this off the tape: who was spoken to, who was asked something, who answered whom.

EpisodeDateOn tapeWhat it is
How 'Going Direct' Changes Everything: for Brands, Retail, Marketing, and Advertising Jul 16, 2017 17m aired address
Marketplaces Jul 15, 2017 19m aired address
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